


These Dreams

by thisiswhyishouldntwritefanfic



Category: Heathers (1988), Pump Up the Volume (1990)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brotherly Bonding, Crossover, F/M, Gen, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-18 06:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13676436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisiswhyishouldntwritefanfic/pseuds/thisiswhyishouldntwritefanfic
Summary: JD wakes from a strange dream and commiserates with Mark, who's up for the very same reason.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay... So this is... part me panicking over other stories. Part me really wanting to be insane and start a longer follow up because I finally know what I want to do with the next part.
> 
> Except... I am so a stickler for chronological order in some respects, and I wanted to do this exploration concept first and I knew if I started the other one I'd never go back and do this one.
> 
> And, yeah, I wanted to do the shameless use of other Christian Slater roles. I'm weird like that.
> 
>  _These Dreams_ is 1986 song by Heart, and that seemed fitting, so title borrowed accordingly.

* * *

JD slipped out of the bed and crossed to the door, giving the girl in it another glance. At least he hadn't woken her. He didn't need to be keeping Veronica up even if he couldn't sleep. He'd blame that on the new house or the time spent sleeping in the hospital, but in the end, it wasn't really any of those things.

It was just a weird ass dream, and he was fine, he swore he was.

He opened the door across the hall as quietly as he could, slipping past the bed and trying to make as little noise as possible only to slide the outer door open.

He stopped short. “You're awake.”

Mark looked over at him, jumping a little. “Fuck. You scared me.”

“Give me one of those,” JD said, and Mark passed over a cigarette. JD lit it and took a drag. “Sorry. Thought you were still asleep.”

Mark shook his head. “No. Had a strange dream and needed one of these.”

“I swear there was someone in your bed.”

Mark glared at him. “There is, but it's not what you think, so leave it alone.”

“Uh huh.”

“Shut up.”

“Oh, come on. Like people haven't been speculating on when that's going to happen since... oh, I don't know, they met? She kind of had an eye for you from the beginning.”

Mark sighed. “Look, you and Veronica have your relationship. Nora and I have ours. You stay out of mine, and I don't need to know about yours.”

JD laughed. “You make it too fun to tease you about it, you know.”

“I hate you.”

JD just smiled, knowing that wasn't true. Strange as this was, they were brothers, and they actually liked each other, more or less. They'd both sort of taken beatings for the other, Mark more than JD, and neither of them had been willing to leave the other to Bud Dean's hands.

They were screwed up, really. That wasn't healthy.

“You dream about it? About him?”

“No,” Mark said, frowning. “That's the weirdest part, actually. I was... It... Okay, so, somehow we met another brother. A triplet. And... we were all standing around this old car, working on it, and it caught on fire and tried to run us over and... JD? What's wrong?”

He forced himself to swallow, thinking of his own dream. “Um... I had just about the same thing. His name, the other one, he was Junior, and we were dressed like big dorks from the fifties or something, and the guy kept talking and there was music and a production and it was... weird.”

Mark fidgeted. “Okay, that's creepy.”

“Aren't twins supposed to have some kind of weird ESPN thing?”

“ESP,” Mark corrected, “and I know you said it like that on purpose.”

“Come on. It's freaky as hell that we dreamed the same thing.”

“Except if it had been about your dad taking us and killing us or... torturing us, it would have seemed pretty normal for us both to dream about it,” Mark said. “And.... admit it. You're worried about what we might find out when—if—we get the court records of our adoptions unsealed. Of who our mom might be and having other siblings.”

“We might make some of the other girls happy,” JD said. “I think they're looking for boyfriends. Betty's especially desperate.”

“Don't be mean, and they could all do better. And... who says they all want boyfriends?”

“Huh. Didn't think about that.”

“I'm not going to,” Mark said. “Their sex lives—their business. Just like yours is yours, and mine is mine.”

“Oh, you and Nora so—”

“Shut up, JD.”

“Mark and Nora sitting in a tree—”

“Don't make me kill you.”

“K-I-S-S—”

“You're going to wake both of the girls up, you idiot. And my parents. Stop it.”

JD rolled his eyes, but he did, since he didn't really want to get another lecture from the Hunters on their smoking habit, since neither of them approved and had told them both they'd better stop, which neither of them wanted to do. JD wasn't about to give it up, but he also didn't want to get caught because he couldn't really afford to get kicked out of his brother's house.

He looked over at Mark. Creepy dream or not, it was kind of nice not to be alone when this stuff happened. He could get used to having a brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one references _Tucker, the Man and his Dream._ Christian Slater plays his oldest son, and it's not a big part, but I enjoyed it mostly (I like old cars, okay?) and the casting's good, he looks a lot like Jeff Bridges' son might.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another night, another dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may be crack, and I'm not going to make it official to the universe's canon, either. I'm just... I don't know.
> 
> Apparently this was what I was capable of writing, and I don't want to sleep because my brain scares me, so...

* * *

Mark looked up as the sliding door opened, not entirely surprised to see JD there. Wordlessly, he took out another cigarette and passed it to his brother. JD lit it and sat down next to him, not saying anything.

He had the feeling they were both trying to avoid asking, even if they were almost sure it had happened again just by the fact that they were sitting here.

“You been out here long?”

“Not cold. Just... unsettled.”

“Tell me about it,” JD muttered. “I think I'd rather dream about Bud, and that... that's just fucking wrong.”

“So you... it wasn't about your dad.”

“Nope.”

Mark let out a breath. “Please tell me it was not about skateboarding.”

JD shook his head. “Can't.”

Mark drew his knees up to his chest, trying to understand what was going on and deciding they probably didn't even want to know, did they? If it was just some weird twin thing, it would end eventually. It had to, didn't it?

“Kind of funny how he was looking for his adopted brother's killer, huh?”

“Not really.”

“Yeah, no,” JD agreed. He cocked his head to the side. “You want a hug?”

“Why does that seem so wrong coming from you? I think you should go back and hug Veronica. I'm fine.”

“You're shivering.”

“That one was... harder to take than the first one, even if the car lighting on fire and almost running us over was a bit scary.”

“A faked suicide, a conspiracy, and people trying to kill us? Yeah, I think I preferred the incident with the car over that one, even if the skateboarding tricks were kind of cool.”

“Better leave them to Tony Hawk.”

“Which one was he?”

“The one with the truck, I think.”

“Right.”

“We're not telling the girls about this. Any of it.”

“Of course not. Don't be stupid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one was _Gleaming the Cube._ I watched it mostly because we played Tony Hawk video games (I'm no good without cheats) and there was a drinking game and also Tony Hawk was on Breaking In and is actually still in touch with Christian Slater, so that's kind of neat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another night, another dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It occurs to me all of these could use more depth and stuff... and yet I don't actually want to do that. I wanted the other ideas out of the system to focus on the big one, and I'm still hoping this one works.

* * *

“This time I'm pissed.”

Mark nodded, and JD knew he wasn't the only one who was mad. Why wouldn't he be? The whole thing stunk, and it was hard to see someone get used like that, because that was what it was.

“I swear, I was this close to punching the wall.”

“Me, too, and I don't really do that sort of thing.”

“Hard Harry does.”

“Hard Harry went around dancing with a golf club. That's different. I don't... It's... I just wish he could have seen that she was using him and didn't deserve his protection,” Mark said, running a hand over his face. “His friend deserved better. They both did.”

“Yeah. They overcame her coming between them, and that... I don't know. It's pretty big. I don't think every friendship would. Most wouldn't. I mean... I know you and I are different, but seriously, if you did something with Veronica—”

“As if I could,” Mark said. “You know she's completely devoted to you. You're codependent. It's... unhealthy, but you two fit and I would pity anyone who tried to come between that. Me and Nora... I don't know that it's on that level, but... I wouldn't forgive you for that, either.”

JD gave him a slight smile. It wasn't that funny, and he wasn't really interested in making a move on Nora. He'd found Veronica and didn't think he'd ever leave her. She was some part of him he didn't know was missing, not that he couldn't say the same about Mark in some ways, as the kid was his twin brother.

“You think we'll be out here again tomorrow night?”

“God, I hope not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time the movie was a made for tv one called _Desperate for Love._ A girl pinning all her hopes on her rich boyfriend marrying her and taking her away from her bad home has those hopes crushed when his parents make him break it off, so she seduces his best friend who's poor (Slater) and he falls hard for her. They fight, but reconcile. She gets back with the rich one who's supposed to run off with her. He disappears, the other boy is blamed for his death, and he ends up confessing to it to spare her as his lawyer's destroying her on the stand.
> 
> It's a depressing movie, but he's a sweetheart in it, and I don't think he did it even though it never specifically says. I thought a lot about making that character a triplet with these two, as his mom was down on her luck and didn't want to tell him about his dad and stuff, but it supposedly was a real story and I chose not to go that route.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time the girls have a talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured they'd been waking the girls up all along, but yeah... this time I chose to show it a bit more.

* * *

Veronica rose, running a hand through her hair and grimacing as she crossed the hall. She swore she'd had something—someone—warm and snuggly holding her tight when she drifted off, and she'd gotten kind of used to that feeling lasting through the night. It was not supposed to leave her abruptly, like it had the last three nights.

She started across the room and stopped when she heard a voice.

“Mark?”

Veronica grimaced. “Um... no.”

“Oh. Veronica,” Nora said, sitting up and reaching for the lamp, turning on the light next to the bed. “I take it they're outside again?”

Veronica nodded. “I assume so. I thought you were staying over because he was having trouble sleeping. You know, trying to make sure he didn't feel alone when the nightmares came.”

“That your way of saying it doesn't seem to be working?” Nora asked, reaching for her cigarettes. “I know it's not. I don't know what's going on, but whatever it is, it's clearly bothering them.”

“I get the feeling we're going to have to ask,” Veronica said, eying the door.

Nora climbed out of the bed, opening the curtain, and sure enough, the boys were sitting next to each other, smoking, and neither of them looked good, between the fading bruises, unfortunate hair cuts and bad lighting.

“I suppose they probably need... therapy.”

Veronica shook her head. “That's not going to go over well with either of them. I try and bring it up, and JD ends up avoiding the topic—the more I try, the more he kisses me and pretty soon I can't remember anything I was saying.”

Nora gave her a look. “Well, Mark doesn't do that, but that doesn't make it any easier to talk to him about it. He just... shuts down.”

Veronica sighed, reaching for the door and sliding it open in time to catch part of the boys' conversation.

“I mean... why aliens? And if that was going to be the big finish... why not make it a bigger part of the whole thing?”

Veronica looked over at Nora, who shrugged helplessly.

“I don't know,” JD said. “This shit just keeps getting weirder and weirder.”

“Could have done without the awkward party thing or the idea that she was involved with a guy old enough to be her father. That was just... bizarre.”

“Do we even want to know?” Veronica asked, folding her arms over her chest.

The boys looked back at them and shook their heads, answering in unison. “No.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was _Beyond the Stars._ He's a teenager obsessed with space who meets an astronaut who had a weird experience on the moon, and it's just a little... odd. Not a bad movie, but there are some moments where it's just like... "okay." And it didn't really fit for a third brother, but I decided I was mentioning most of the teen roles, so... I did.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They try something different this time around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured they'd change their habits after waking the girls.

* * *

“It's too much to think that just because neither of us went outside last night it didn't happen, right?” Mark asked, and JD looked over at him, confirming what he'd thought. He reached around his brother for the toothpaste, applying some to the brush.

“So... you just stayed put so you didn't wake Nora.”

“I think I woke her anyway, but I didn't want to push it by checking,” Mark admitted. “You wake Veronica?”

“Yeah, but I made it up to her.”

Mark choked on his toothbrush. Pulling it out of his mouth, he pointed it at his brother in warning. “Enough. Stop sharing so damned much. It's bad enough we keep having these dreams, but seriously, no more of your sex life.”

“Oh, poor baby. You are so red right now,” JD teased, and Mark reached over to hit him.

“I swear, sometimes I regret meeting you.”

JD rolled his eyes, finishing with his teeth and washing off his face. “Sure you do. Imagine if you were having these weird ass dreams all alone. Speaking of... do you own a Nintendo?”

“No,” Mark said, “but given the mood my parents have been in lately... I think we could get them to buy us one.”

“And that new game.”

“Was that an ad or subliminal messaging or... what even was that dream?”

“I don't know, but I think that kid had plenty of brothers and wouldn't be interested in knowing us.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out that Christian Slater was in _The Wizard._ Again, it's kind of an underused part, that of the older brother, and he ends up doing mostly comic relief and helping the whole Nintendo product placement that is that movie, but it's kind of a cute movie in its way.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of another dream gets them all in the same room again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um... this one got a bit sillier despite the darker part with the dream. They had way too much fun teasing Mark.
> 
> And there's one more little side bit that this needs and then this will be done and I can think about a real sequel.

* * *

“I don't want to sleep again,” JD said, opening Mark's door and not even bothering to try and head to the yard for a smoke. He came over to the bed and flopped down on Mark's feet.

“That was... more than the usual bit of unsettling,” Mark said, and JD gave him a dark look. He couldn't help it. The other stuff had been different, with the last two nights the dreams odd and not violent in the same way. The one was almost funny. The other was more serious, and the guy did die, the mentor one, but this one was just... off.

It didn't help that the guy who looked like their brother had been shot while wearing a dress, trying to protect his sister. There were so many things wrong with that, and if that kid was their brother, he was an idiot, but still, he'd been trying to help her. Then again... the whole thing was kind of his fault.

Mark winced. He just needed to stop thinking about it.

Nora sat up, frowning at both of them. “Again? What is going on with you two?”

“Bad dreams. A lot of them.”

“Are you actually going to tell us about them this time?” Veronica asked, walking in from the other room. She didn't stop until she'd reached JD, standing over him. “Because neither of us is stupid and we know something is wrong.”

JD tugged her down on top of him. “Nothing's wrong now.”

“Oh, God,” Mark muttered. “If you're going to do that, go back to your own room.”

“No,” Nora said. “Neither of us are stupid, either. He's just doing it as a distraction. You're getting all uptight about it because—well, maybe not just because it works as an excuse to get them to leave but still—and then you avoid us for another night. Not this time.”

“Nope,” Veronica agreed, though Mark had a feeling her willpower was not half as strong as Nora thought it would, or at least JD was definitely trying to wear her down, kissing her neck.

“If I tell you that we've been having the same dream every night—and by same I don't mean six days in a row but JD's is the same as mine—can we avoid the orgy on my bed? Please?”

Realizing what he'd just said, Mark pulled a pillow over his head with a groan.

“Something so wrong with you that you want to avoid it,” JD said, and whatever he just did to Veronica made her moan. 

Nora laughed, lifting the pillow off Mark's head. “And to think you're Hard Harry.”

“Shut up.”

“Though, wait,” Veronica pulled away from JD. “You two are having the exact same dream every night, but it's a different dream each night?”

JD shook his head. “Now if you'd just gone with the orgy idea, Mark—”

“No. That's so not right. I don't—you—you're my twin, and it shouldn't be that weird, but it is—there are things I do not need to see, okay?”

“Things he doesn't want you to see,” Nora added, and Mark really wished someone would kill him and put him out of his misery.

“Oh, do tell, poetry lady,” JD said, and Mark kicked him. JD laughed. “What, too shy to let your girlfriend share?”

“Why do you all have to be so perverse about this?”

“We're not, actually. JD's just using it as much as he can to avoid the subject of these dreams,” Veronica said, shifting her position on JD to something more of a cuddle than a fondle. “Come on. You can tell us.”

“No,” JD said, and she looked up at him. He sighed. “They're just... weird. That's all. And it's weirder that we're sharing them. I would much rather be distracted.”

“Do we have any idea why this is happening?”

“Best guess? Stress and brain damage,” Mark answered, watching Nora frown. “Well, there's some people who've documented some kind of... connection between twins, but besides that... we were abducted, beaten, and in comas for a bit. So... brain damage. And... there's still his dad's trial to worry about, my radio show, and what we'll find out when they unseal our birth records, which is all on top of the usual teenage angst.”

“So it should go away,” Veronica said. “Once some of this stuff is resolved or you feel less stressed?”

“Yes.”

“And I know a great way of relieving stress,” JD said, giving Veronica a suggestive look. Mark took his pillow and threw it at him.

It sort of hit Veronica instead, and Mark had a feeling that meant war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was _The Legend of Billy Jean._ Christian Slater's in it with Helen Slater (not related in real life, but they play siblings) and it's a strange little movie. He's also kind of an idiot, but he does try and protect his sister in the end, so... there's that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is a sinister background no one knows about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this was the last idea that had to get out of my system. It's a bit... much. I've never actually seen the show that sort of inspired this concept, but I read the basic premise and thought about it a lot doing Static.
> 
> What if this were true?
> 
> As it is, better it's just a nightmare that they absolutely refuse to discuss. ;)

* * *

“We have a problem.”

The scientist snorted. “You always say that, but never elaborate. If there's some kind of crisis, don't you think that you should actually say what it is instead of leaving it at 'we have a problem?' Honestly. The amount of time we waste debating whether or not things are a problem—”

“Two of them found each other.”

“What?”

“Two of the test subjects found each other. We're not sure how. It seems to have been an accident brought on by the one adoptive parents' nomadic lifestyle,” the other man said, and the scientist could feel his fury rising.

“Did we not have any measures in place to prevent such a thing? We monitor the subjects. How the hell did they meet? Our interference was necessary, and yet somehow it didn't happen and I'm only hearing about it _now?”_ he demanded, wishing that he could dispose of this idiot as easily as he did a failed culture.

“We were aware of the two converging, but as the one boy was suspended the first day of school and the father known to be... violent on such occasions, it was thought it was not necessary to intervene immediately. Had things taken their natural course, he never would have met the other.”

“And yet you say they have. They're aware of each other's existence. This was not supposed to happen. Ever. The children were distributed across the country to avoid this outcome and contamination of the experiment.”

“We've done what damage control we can. The records have been changed to record their birth as a pair of twins, as that is what they believe they are—twins separated at birth and adopted by two different families. There's no record of the others. They won't learn of them.”

“See that they don't. This could ruin everything we've worked for all these years.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yes, very loosely inspired by Orphan Black, as I've never watched it, but the idea of JD and Mark and other Christian Slater teen roles as clones hidden away in society... well, that was kind of intriguing, and I very nearly wrote more, but no.


End file.
